In 1863, then-11-year-old Tad begged his father to pardon the
turkey that the Lincolns planned to eat on Christmas. The story
goes that young Tad said the turkey had every right to live,
according to the White House.

Smithsonian Magazine has more details on young Tad's
quest to save the family turkey. After the Lincolns got their
live Christmas Turkey, Tad adopted it as his pet and named it
Jack. The boy — the youngest of four who freely roamed the
executive mansion — taught the bird to follow him around the
White House grounds.

The story goes that Lincoln initially insisted that the turkey be
eaten, according to the Smithsonian. From the magazine:

"Jack was sent here to be killed and eaten for this very
Christmas,” he told Tad, who answered, “I can’t help it. He’s a
good turkey, and I don’t want him killed."

Lincoln eventually relented, letting his energetic and emotional
young son have his way.

It would be more than 100 years before a president would actually
use the word "pardon" in connection with a turkey. Ronald Reagan
made a reference to turkey-pardoning as a joke when he was asked
whether he planned to pardon anybody involved with the Iran-Contra
scandal, according to the Smithsonian.

If the spared turkey weren't already on its way to a petting
farm, Reagan said, "I would have pardoned him."

President George H.W. Bush was the first to actually offer a
turkey pardon. On November 14, 1989, he announced that year’s
bird had “been granted a presidential pardon as of right now.” He
sent the turkey on his way to the perhaps unfortunately named
Frying Pan Park in Herndon, Virginia, and with that, a tradition
was born.

Obama will continue the tradition on Wednesday when the National
Turkey Federation presents him with a live turkey. This will be a
rare event for Obama, who is
notoriously stingy about issuing pardons.

Correction: An earlier version of this story said Tad Lincoln
was 8 years old when he asked for the turkey to be pardoned. The
error has been corrected.